help identify old cruiser please

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hi - im new here - im randall in columbus ohio - i recently took on a vintage cruiser basket case and am going to restore it , previous craigslist owner "restored" it - translation " did a cruddy paint job"..... its a mens frame , and the previous owner said was a huffy but im not sure - i bought a vintage female cruiser to use as a parts donor ..... pics forthcoming .....main questionis what do i have ? how old? ect.....

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p.s it originally had a "chicken power " motor on it - which i have , but is missing a part - thats why the right grip is missing , cause thats where the throttle was ( have it too ) .....i dont plan to use the motor since a part is missing - want to make her look like she just rolled off showroom floor

photo of donor -----its a huffy good vibrations - i already put the front tire on the mens frame and it fill up the front fork , LOL i like that fat tire look

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considering having the frame bead blasted and restart over from step one - is this reccomended ? ive seen some bike guys say never do this - what are the pros and cons ??

- I also have the front fender , but it was cut off to accomidate the motor - my buddy said this could be a huffy camaro , based on the 2 holes on either side of the head tube for the mounting of the " tank " ( which i sadly dont have ) -
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pics of pedals if it helps
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-is this a sought after bike ..... ??????

looks like this one to me ....

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or this one ...
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- the guy i got it from said the head tube logo looked like this one - before he got rid of it and painted over it , sad face -

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here is the original seat that came on it - says persons usa on it

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From what I can see of the dropouts and bottom bracket, looks like a 60s or early 70s Huffy frame. Later models have a welded on kickstand pivot and a different fender bridge. :|
 
if you need more , closer pics just tell me what i need to snap photos of - i can accomidate ..... need to figure out what she is - so i know where to go with her - i appreciate any help guys !! :D
 
i ordered a taller handlebar stem for it off ebay - cause im a tall dude , i got one in 21.1 mm - hope thats the right size - the one i took off is a wald 3144

- looking for a taller seat post as well, but dont know the size , any idea?
 
deorman said:
From what I can see of the dropouts and bottom bracket, looks like a 60s or early 70s Huffy frame. Later models have a welded on kickstand pivot and a different fender bridge. :|

fender bracket :
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off road tires gotta go - closer shot of bottome of kickstand , fender attaches via a "pin" or something on bottom -
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no serial number, looking in wrong place ? - closer shot of chain ring -
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not much clearance , LOL , but spins ok .....8)
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Like stated above, 60's-70's. Just be careful not to spend too much getting it looking original. Huffy bikes are okay for customizing, but aside from prewar Huffmans, the larger huffys don't hold much value. In fact the huffys that do have value are the more off-the-wall models, usually musclebikes. I have passed up complete original camaros for under $100 several times.Good call on using a good vibrations for a donor. I think the seatpost should be 20.7 mm or 13/16" . Good luck and maybe start a build thread so we can watch your progress.
 
do you agree with my friend , that im missing a tank ? think its a camaro ? what else could those holes be for ? I dont plan on dumping an insane amout of money into her , but wanna do it up. the pleasure is in the build and the end product being something i am proud of ......
 
think this is the correct cover to re-do the seat ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-NOS-Pe ... 4613d53621

also got these with it - guy took them off to repaint - they were caked with grease and rough but cleaned up nicely

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motor - untouched or cleaned up - dirty but not too bad and not siezed
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sometnings missing here - any ideas ? any value in keeping this ? anyone need this ? i have no intentions to ever use this
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chain guard from the good vibrations donor bike cleaned up nice , too bad i dont need it , LOL

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The sprocket is the same as the one on my 71 Huffy, the chain guard is just like the ones on Huffys from the late 60's. I don't think it had a tank, those with the short fenders didn't come with tanks. Here's a 70 Huffy cruiser that looks very similar:

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"tanks alot " for the responses ........ :D

if not for a tank - then i wonder what the holes in the head tube were for then ???
as far as fenders go - these are pretty rough - front one was cut short , and the back one had alot of dents, dings, ect - then the dude painted them , making it worse .....might just go fender delete , or try and track down some new replacements , looking for some red side wall wide tires for her now
 
The holes are too big for a tank mount, maybe they were drilled to mount the motor but not used.
 
cool... so if i wanna get rid of the holes i can jb weld them in , yea? im not a welder and dont have any clue as to how that works so id have to use jb weld i think ... im still considering having the frame bead blasted to have a clean slate to start with , figured that would allow me to assess the true condition of this frame, and quite frankly this ford ranger green spray paint he used is quite ugly and has to go - is there any way you know of to strip the paint, primer ect he used off to see what color she originally was ?
 
As others have stated, it's a Huffy. Not extremely rare, not really valuable as a collectible bike. Do what suits you.

For filling the holes, if you're not going to have them welded up, JB Weld is as good as anything I guess. Sandblasting's the best way to have a clean starting point. I just did a similar bike for a friend, a Huffy Good Vibrations in black with silver pinstripes.



The paint on it was soooooo bad that if was falling off with a fingernail scratch... so we took it all apart and I sandblasted, primed, and repainted it. Take your time and you'll get good results. I did knock out the bearing cups and found they were a pain to get back in straight. Ended up using a vise to help drive in the crank bearing cups. Not sure what the big issue was there, they look like most other one-piece-crank parts.

These were real American-made bikes and they're solid. You should have good results with yours and have something you'll really enjoy for many years.

I'd do the same with the other Good Vibrations frame if I had it here... build it up and put it on the road. It's SO much better of a bike than the Chinese bikes. I'm sure you will expose the original color in the restoration- probably still on the insides of the bearing housings and the steer tube of the fork, if not anywhere else.

--Rob


randallace said:
cool... so if i wanna get rid of the holes i can jb weld them in , yea? im not a welder and dont have any clue as to how that works so id have to use jb weld i think ... im still considering having the frame bead blasted to have a clean slate to start with , figured that would allow me to assess the true condition of this frame, and quite frankly this ford ranger green spray paint he used is quite ugly and has to go - is there any way you know of to strip the paint, primer ect he used off to see what color she originally was ?
 
Does the motor move or is it frozen up? These items were dangerous - more so now - and they pollute the air like crazy.

sell it to me or put it on eBay or trade it here.

The problem with these motors is that they out run the brakes often and get you I to trouble - as in they might kill you. It's strictly a novelty item for limited use - but fun in a loud annoying way. Everyone hstes you with a motor like that. Cyclists know you are cheating. Motorcyclists laugh at your puny power and the neighbors won't appreciate the noise.
 

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